For many people a weight loss plan begins and ends with eating less food which means deprivation dieting. This inevitably backfires because 1) such diets are virtually impossible to maintain, 2) they lower the metabolic rate (the rate your body burns fuel), and 3) they work against the very strength and fitness improvements wise exercisers will strive to achieve as part of their weight loss efforts.

Eating plans that drastically reduce calories (often promising fast and dramatic weight loss) adversely alter metabolism. These types of diets will cause a reduction in calorie-burning once the body has adapted to the new diet. Once you are off a diet and if you go on one you have to come off it eventually then any weight lost quickly returns.

There is so much misleading information around about weight loss and fitness, suddenly all of these supposed experts are saying go for a walk or just do a few bicep curls with a couple of tins of baked beans and everything will be alright. Well that clearly isn't working is it?

Most people trying to lose weight get fixated on calories, we have been told if calories taken in are less than we expend during the day we should lose weight right? So these people make maximum calorie burning the exclusive aim of all of their exercise sessions.

They often do very long and boring cardio sessions - walking or jogging for an hour or more at a relatively low, even level of intensity. But this is not the best and most effective way to burn off unwanted fat, and it's certainly not the way to achieve and maintain a strong, lean body that burns calories at a higher rate 24/7.

To do that, you need to shift your metabolism, which regulates your body's ability to become (and stay) lean with lowered body fat levels. And shifting your metabolism up a few notches depends on upgrading your strength and fitness while supporting yourself with good nutrition.

The Hormone Secret - For a deeper understanding of why weight loss is hardly the simple "calories in, calories out" equation it's made out to be, consider how becoming stronger affects your body's hormones. People who are strong and fit have lower levels of cortisol which is the stress hormone that can trigger overeating and cause your body to store fat more readily. Strong people also have higher levels of growth hormone which builds lean muscle tissue and increases the metabolism.

The only guaranteed permanent way to lose weight (body fat) and maintain that loss over time is to focus on your strength and fitness. An exercise program that contains at least 60% strength training exercise performed for 12 months or longer will dramatically improve chances of sustaining long term weight loss.

Good nutrition coupled with strength training and cardio interval training can further influence your body's hormones to promote weight loss. An out of control appetite comes from high levels of insulin - a result of a diet of refined foods, refined sugars and carbohydrates. When you perform proper exercise at the right level of intensity, you lower your insulin levels, you become more insulin sensitive, and the cravings go away

People that increase their strength and fitness in the correct manner become more inclined towards being more active and tend to exert themselves at higher levels. That is because exercise and activities of all kinds become easier and therefore more enjoyable. Even intense levels of exertion become more comfortable which allows more stimulation of the body's natural hormones to assist you making shifting any excess body fat a breeze.